6 QC cops face raps for EDSA kidnapping

MANILA, Philippines —Police filed on Monday criminal charges against four Quezon City police officers and a dismissed cop for the kidnapping of two individuals in Mandaluyong City on September. 1.

In a televised press conference at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Chief Superintendent Abelardo Villacorta, Eastern Police Distri(EPD) director, said they filed kidnapping with serious illegal detention, and robbery charges before the Mandaluyong Prosecutors Office against Chief Inspector Joseph de Vera, Senior Inspector Oliver Villanueva, Police Officers 1 Ramil Hachero and Jonathan Rodriguez, Police Officers 2 Ebonn Decatoria and Weavin Masa, dismissed Police Inspector Marco Polo Estrera, and three other still unidentified suspects.

Only De Vera was in custody while the rest of the suspects remain at large.

READ: Suspect arrested in EDSA 'hulidap'

Villacorta said policemen, members of Task Force Wack-wack, managed to trace the suspects through verification with the Land Transportation Office of the Honda Civic and Toyota Hi Ace van used in kidnapping the two victims.

The EPD chief said the cases were blown open after a photo posted over Twitter went viral, showing several armed men who alighted from vehicles blocking a white Fortuner along EDSA.
During the follow up operations, Villarcorta said intelligence officers were able to trace the Honda civic to Estrera and the Toyota van to De Vera, who is assigned to a police station in La Loma, Quezon City.

Villacorta said De Vera initially denied his involvement but eventually owned up to the crime.

Investigations also showed that the suspects brought the victims to the La Loma police station where they were detained for seven hours before they were released.

Reports said the suspects managed to get the valuables and P2 million cash from the victims during the incident.